Thunderbirds slice up Blades, finish 2-4 on East swing

The Seattle Thunderbirds scored four goals in 4:16 early in the third period Saturday night at the Credit Union Centre in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, to secure a 6-2 win over the Saskatoon Blades.

Three of those goals were scored in 44 seconds in the first five minutes of the third period. Roberts Lipsbergs scored at 3:47 followed by Connor Sanvido at 4:24 and Alexander Delnov at 4:31. Connor Honey's goal at 8:03 of the third gave the T-Birds four goals in 4:16.

This was the final game of a six-game road trip to the East Division. The T-Birds went 2-4-0-0 against the East Division this season.

The T-Birds next game is next Friday against the Medicine Hat Tigers at 7:35 p.m. at the ShoWare Center. They play the next night at 5:05 p.m. against the Spokane Chiefs at the ShoWare.

Seattle (9-10-1-0) jumped out to a 1-0 lead 3:59 into the game on a power-play goal by Shea Theodore. Honey stopped a Saskatoon clearing attempt at the blue line along the left boards. Honey moved the puck to hi right to Theodore who was moving into the slot. Theodore skated down the slot and snapped the puck over Saskatoon goalie Andrey Makarov's glove.

Seth Swenson scored a power-play goal at 18:53 of the first to put the T-Birds in front 2-0. Theodore got the puck to Riley Sheen who carried it into the Blades zone on the left side. Sheen spotted Swenson cutting towards the slot and hit him with a pass. Swenson came down the slot and beat Makarov over the glove for his sixth goal of the season.

The T-Birds outshot the Blades 14-6 in the first period.

Saskatoon (8-10-0-1) got their first goal at 18:02 of the second period when Matt Revel scored. Nick Zajac and Darren Dietz had the assists.

The Blades outshot the T-Birds 14-12 in the second period but the T-Birds led 26-20 in shots after two periods.

Lipsbergs gave the T-Birds a 3-1 lead at 3:47 of the third period. Defenseman Kevin Wolf got the puck to Lipsbergs behind the Blades net. Lipsbergs carried the puck out from behind the net at the right post. He turned into the slot and beat Makarov over the glove for his third goal of the year.

Seattle struck again 37 seconds later when Sanvido whipped a shot past Makarov. Brendan Rouse won a faceoff in the left circle back to Theodore. Theodore took a wrist shot that deflected to Sanvido to the left of the goal. Sanvido quickly got the puck on net and beat a lunging Makarov.

Alex Moodie replaced Makarov after Sanvido's goal. Makarov made 28 saves on 32 shots and his record is now 8-9-0-1 with the loss.

Delnov scored seven seconds after Sanvido to give the T-Birds a 5-1 lead. Off the faceoff Honey got the puck into the Blades zone and took a shot that hit Moodie high. The puck rebounded into the slot right to Delnov and he beat Moodie over the blocker for the goal.

Saskatoon's second goal came when Lukas Sutter scored unassisted at 7:48 of the third.

Honey restored the four-goal lead at 8:03 of the third. Honey put a wrist shot on goal from the top of the left circle that beat Moodie on the stick side. Lipsbergs assisted on the goal.

The T-Birds outshot the Blades 15-11 in the third period and 41-32 in the game.

Seattle goalie Brandon Glover was solid all game long and stopped 30 of 32 shots to improve his record to 8-7-1-0.

Moodie had seven saves on nine shots in relief of Makarov.

T-Birds single-game tickets are available online at the T-Birds website and at the ShoWare Center box office. The ShoWare Center Box Office is open Monday through Friday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Saturday game days at 10 a.m. and Sunday game days at noon.

T-Birds season tickets are on sale. Season tickets can be purchased by calling the T-Birds office at 253-239-7825.

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